2019 Trends Brief from PwC

In 2019, healthcare organizations will begin to take cues from other industries as they look to improve customer experience, increase efficiencies, and foster price transparency, PwC Health Research Institute’s annual Top Health Industry Issues report found.

In the past two years, $12.5 billion was invested in digital health ventures, marking 2019 as the year when digital devices will truly reshape the life sciences and health industries. PwC’s HRI found that more than 50% of consumers would be likely to try an FDA-approved app or online tool for treatment and care. And the FDA’s Digital Software Precertification Program is expected to begin awarding approvals in 2019. As more digital therapeutics and connected devices come onto the market, biopharma and medical device companies will have to change their approach to product discovery and development, focusing on solutions that have demonstrable outcomes in clinical trials for patients, payers, and providers.

The PwC HRI report highlights six trends that will impact the healthcare industry in 2019, also including:

Creating the Southwest Airlines of Healthcare: The year ahead will welcome new innovative business models to address rising healthcare costs and the industry’s antiquated system.

Upskilling health workers: When the workforce of the future is top of mind of all industries, healthcare companies need to figure out the best way to train, reskill, and upskill employee capabilities to best work alongside AI and robotic process automation technologies.

Private equity accelerating growth: HRI expects PE’s diversified acquisitions and investments in the health sector to accelerate, giving healthcare companies opportunities to sell all or portions of noncore assets and increase their core competencies, or partner with PE in acquisitions.

In its 13th year, the ‘Top health Industry issues of 2019: The New Health Economy comes of age’ outlines the top issues for healthcare providers, insurers, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, and employers. The six issues in the report include the follow: